


Consequence

by Jointhebattle



Series: Inbetween Days [3]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Abduction, Canon Universe, F/M, Failing at sneaking around, Graphic Descriptions of Feelings, Guilt, Sneaking Around, Spoilers, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:20:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23129179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jointhebattle/pseuds/Jointhebattle
Summary: The plan had been to steal time together whenever they could.In practice, it soon became clear that it would be much more complicated than they had initially anticipated.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Seteth
Series: Inbetween Days [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623028
Comments: 39
Kudos: 138





	Consequence

**Author's Note:**

> ***IMPORTANT NOTE***  
> There is some talk of war and painful loss in this chapter. No graphic descriptions of violence, but some canon details in the game are pretty horrific, and I do vaguely reference them a couple of times.
> 
> I refer to Seteths wife at one point, and I couldnt bear to leave her nameless, so I gave her a name. Cichol and Cethleann come across as Celtic sounding names to me, so Seteths wife is called "Aoife" in this fic, which is pronounced "Ee-fa" (kind of like the Celtic version of Eva)

Seteth paused dramatically and raised his eyes from the manuscript in his hands, gauging the reaction of the small crowd of children gathered around him. 

Their expressions ranged from eager anticipation to completely hidden behind their hands in anxiety.

"What do you suppose happened next, children?"

A booming laugh came from the market trader at the stall next to their impromptu assembly. "Put them out of their misery, Seteth. Even I couldn't possibly wait another moment to discover the fate of the lazy rabbit."

Seteth smiled widely at him, checking it into a stern frown a moment later and clearing his throat. "The lazy rabbit awoke to find the fox standing above him, his warren destroyed, and his friends nowhere to be seen."

A chorus of gasps and exclamations of "no!" came in response. One child began to weep. 

Perhaps he should revise the ending of this particular fable.

Seteth cringed. "And what do you imagine to be the moral of this story?"

A few tentative hands rose. 

"Yes, Stephen?"

The child scrambled to his feet. "Never close your eyes for a second! Don't take your eyes off your loved ones, or they'll be killed in your negligence!"

Hmm. The ending definitely required revision.

Another child jumped to her feet. "Stephen, you idiot–"

"Language, Cecily!"

Cecily blushed. "Sorry, Seteth."

"Direct your apologies elsewhere," Seteth advised, inclining his head slightly towards the stricken boy.

"I'm sorry for my harsh language, Stephen. But the story was obviously about the dangerous consequences of self-indulgence," she said with an air of superiority.

"Does that mean that we shouldn't sleep anymore?"

"Our parents will watch us sleep, you fool!"

"My parents are dead, is it my fault?"

Chaos was quickly descending, and Seteth could feel himself losing the attention of the children as they began to squabble amongst themselves.

"Children, there is no need to–"

The manuscript was snatched from his grasp, and he looked up to see Jeralt standing behind where he was sat on a rickety wooden bench, the fable grasped firmly in his hand.

"What's this?" he grumbled. "You didn't even tell them the end?"

The children fell silent and returned to their positions of quietly sitting on the cobbled ground. Seteth felt the ludicrous urge to sit on the ground alongside them and watch him.

He cast Seteth a sidelong glance and the slightest smile. 

"The moment the fox lunged towards the lazy rabbit, all of his rabbit friends jumped out of the bushes where they were hiding and chased the fox away, because they knew their lazy friend wasn't the type of person who was good at sitting watch, and they made sure to take extra precautions when it was his turn."

He dropped the manuscript in Seteth's lap. 

"I think this might be one of your best," he said. "The moral of the story is that no one person can be relied upon to look after everyone else. We all gotta look out for each other."

The children erupted into cheers and giggles, and Jeralt clapped Seteth heavily on the shoulder.

"Come fish with me."

Jeralt Eisner had the uncanny ability to make Seteth feel like a child. 

This feeling was amplified manyfold by having the man bait up his line and pass it to him with the type of smile you would offer to a ten-year-old struggling in his lessons.

"My thanks," Seteth murmured as he took the fishing rod and cast his line into the pond.

"You've gotta ease up on those kids, you're projecting some unhealthy shit." Jeralt sent his line flying several feet farther than Seteth's. "I gather you lost your wife. I'm sorry to hear it."

Seteth sighed. "It was a long time ago."

Jeralt hummed distractedly in response, and they sat in silence for a while as their fishing floats bobbed around gently on the surface of the water.

"You blame yourself?"

Seteth's grip on the wooden rod tightened, and he took a deep breath. "There is no question. It was my fault."

A tug on Jeralt's line interrupted them with a burst of activity, and Jeralt reeled in an enormous carp with seemingly little effort. He dumped it in the basket between them and smirked.

"Did you kill her?"

It was a question Seteth did not expect. He almost didn't know how to answer it. "I did not prevent her from being killed. I failed to protect her, and she died."

"My wife died in childbirth." Jeralt pulled a hip flask from his pocket and took a deep draught, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and pocketing it again straight after. "Was it my fault? I got her pregnant. I didn't stop her dying. I guess by your logic, it was."

A bite jerked on Seteth's line and he dropped it. 

"It'd be nice to be able to protect everyone we love from the dangers that come along with being alive, wouldn't it?" Jeralt chuckled. "You think I don't wanna ring your neck right now in the name of protecting the ones I love?"

Seteth turned his head abruptly to look at him. "You–"

"I know you're screwing my kid, yeah. What?"

His words were crass, but Seteth knew better than to attempt to argue with him. "Are you trying to object to it?"

"By' can do what she likes–" a laugh "– _who_ she likes. She's a grown ass woman, and she doesn't need me to protect her. But let me tell you something, Seteth." He paused, possibly an attempt to make himself appear more intimidating. 

It was extremely effective.

"If I really believed your wife died because of you, I would've drowned you like a rat right here without a care in the damn world. What was it, a battle? Illness? Childbirth?"

Seteth's head swam with the painful memories. "It was war… to even call it that…" He shook his head and leant over to retrieve his fishing rod from the pond. "A massacre. I had to protect our child. I–I failed them both."

"You think, if you turned back the clock, you could've changed anything?"

It was painful to recall, but Seteth took himself back to that time in his mind. 

The battle was a blur of mud and screaming and metallic clashes. The panic of becoming separated from Cethleann; young and vulnerable as she was. Aoife imploring him to find their daughter and take her away even as she was being overwhelmed by foes so ruthless and formidable that survival for any of them felt impossible.

Finding Cethleann so gravely wounded that the only option was flight. Burying his wife and his folk–at least those whose bodies had been left to rest. All with the knowledge of the brutal desecration that many of the deceased had been violated with. 

A thousand years of solitude.

"Truthfully, had I the opportunity to go back, I am not convinced that I would. Time dulls the pain, but my memories are still fresh…"

"Peace time is a precious thing."

Seteth allowed himself a sigh of relief as he tucked the memories away once more. "Indeed it is. Let's you and I do our best to keep it that way for those we wish to protect."

Jeralt smiled wryly at him. "Just ease up a little on all that protecting crap, okay, kid? You gotta let people live their lives. That means you, too."

—

The plan had been to steal time together whenever they could.

In practice, it soon became clear that it would be much more complicated than they had initially anticipated.

"Did you lock the door?" Byleth asked in a heavy whisper.

Seteth glanced over at his office door briefly, wiping the beading perspiration from his forehead with one hand. "Of course I did."

"Just be quick," she gasped. "I–ah–"

He pressed her further down onto his desk and rutted into her again. "I can assure you–" He nuzzled the back of her neck, her intoxicating scent more potently addictive than any drug. "–this will not take long."

Had he told himself, even three months ago, that in a short time he would have lost himself so entirely–his sense of reason, any semblance of pride–to the enticement of a young woman… there is simply no way he would have believed it.

And yet here he was, and here she was, this ethereal being, bent over his desk, willing and impatient as he to be joined together like this. 

The feeling of being inside her was unreal. She ground herself backwards into him–searching for friction; attempting to find her own release as he neared his. 

He reached for her sensitive clit with his fingers to help her get there, the awkward angle forcing her up onto her toes.

"Byleth," he rasped. "I'm close."

"Just–fuck–" She stifled a moan, bundling up one of her coat sleeves and biting on it hard. "–don't mess up my clothes."

The latch on his office door clanked, and they startled apart. The cold air of the room was jarring, and Seteth looked at Byleth in panic as he tucked himself back into his breeches and straightened out his robe.

A voice rang out from behind the locked door. "Brother?" 

"It's Flayn!" he whispered urgently. "Just a moment!" he called towards the door.

Byleth buckled her belt and went to open a window. "Why didn't you stay quiet?" she hissed. "How are we going to explain this?"

Seteth rearranged the crumpled papers on his desk in a rush and nodded towards the small coffee table and chairs arranged in one corner of his office. "Just sit down and do your best to look…"

"Like I didn't have your dick inside me five seconds ago?"

He grimaced. Her sense of humour was blunt as always. "I beg you, this is no time to jest, please attempt to appear nonchalant."

"They don't call me the Ashen Demon for nothing."

Of that he had no doubt, but the reassurance did nothing to still the racing beat of his heart as he walked steadily towards the door.

He cleared his throat and unlocked it, revealing the slightly confused face of his pretty daughter to him.

She was holding a full tray of tea and biscuits, as she was like to surprise him with now and again. "I beg your pardon, brother, are you quite well? Your face is excessively flushed."

"I am well. I was just–I thought you were taking tea with Lady Rhea this afternoon?"

Flayn stepped past him into the room. "That was my plan, but–oh! Professor!" 

Seteth turned to see Byleth sitting casually with a quill in her hand and a small stack of papers which she had retrieved from goddess knew where, not a trace of exertion about her demeanour. 

Had Seteth been a younger man, his pride may have even been slightly injured by how rapidly she had managed to compose herself after their tryst.

As a man of significant age, Seteth was battling with what felt like the beginnings of an existential crisis.

"I fear I have interrupted you," Flayn said as she placed the tray down on the small table. "Please allow me to excuse myself, and help yourselves to these refreshments."

She poured a cup of tea for each of them and Seteth took his immediately, grateful for the excuse of something to do with his hands.

"Don't worry, Flayn. Seteth was just drilling me on some spear techniques I'm not overly familiar with," Byleth said offhand. 

Seteth choked on his tea, and placed the cup back down on the table as carefully as he could manage whilst in the middle of a coughing fit. 

Flayn's eyes widened. "You were not sparring in here, I hope?" She turned to Seteth, who was still recovering from Byleth's audacious innuendo. "Brother, there is a training hall specifically for the purpose of physical battle drills and sparring. You would do well to remember it, imagine if some of your precious books were damaged!"

"Yes, you're quite right," he replied sheepishly. "Silly of me."

"Anyway, as I was saying, I had planned to take tea with Lady Rhea this afternoon, but she was called in to an emergency meeting with some of the knights, and I'm afraid we had to postpone. Would you like a biscuit, Professor? It is such fun to have additional company today!"

"Actually," Seteth said, catching Byleth's eye. "The professor was just about to leave, weren't you?"

Byleth raised her eyebrows at him questioningly, and he looked pointedly towards the door, nodding his head incrementally.

"Oh," Byleth gasped, somewhat performatively, and got to her feet. "That's right, I was. I need to get the students moving out anyway, we've got some bandits to deal with in the Kingdom. Thank you for the tea, Flayn. Seteth, thank you for the… drilling."

Seteth felt the heat of a blush creep across his already flushed face as he stood to see her out. "Hold on a moment, Byleth." 

He walked over to his desk and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill, scribbling down a quick note for her. 

_I wish to see you again. I wish to_ _see_ _you._

_Please refrain from double entendre in the presence of my sister._

_Verdant Rain Moon, 31, 1180_

That should be enough to get the intended message across without risking discovery, should the note be found. He had dated it for the following day, hoping that she would notice and know that he wished to meet.

"Here is a list of areas I felt you needed to work particularly hard on. Perhaps we could arrange to continue our… seminar… later."

Byleth took the note, and waved goodbye to Flayn without a backwards glance.

Once the door was shut behind her and Byleth's footsteps had echoed out of earshot, Seteth forced himself to loosen the tension in his jaw and tear his gaze away from the empty space she'd left behind.

"Father…"

He tried to summon up the energy to correct her, but he found himself so thoroughly drained by the encounter that it was all he could do to make his way back to his seat and finish what remained of his cold tea.

"Father, look at me."

Flayn was smiling softly at him, a touch of amusement sparkling in her eye. 

Precisely what she was hoping to hear from him, Seteth had not the slightest idea. He cleared his throat pointedly and lifted the tea cosy from the pot. 

"Would you like another cup of tea, my dear sister?" he asked, knowing that whatever it was she wished him to say, it was not that.

She ignored him completely. "I must confess that when I first entered this room to find the two of you alone together, I assumed that I had interrupted a secret moment… perhaps, a confession of love?" 

"Flayn, I can assure yo–"

"But now, I am absolutely convinced that you are lovers already. No, do not attempt to correct me, father, because I will not be made to disbelieve what I saw with my own eyes."

What she–? "I'm not sure I'm following your meaning, Flayn. What you saw with your…?" Had she been peeping through the keyhole? Eavesdropping? It was not something he knew to be characteristic of her, but–

"The way you spoke to each other with your eyes," she sighed dreamily, "is something reserved only for lovers."

What on earth had she been reading? 

"And as if that was not evidence enough, you then called her by her name, and left her with a secret note! I never took you to be such a romantic." She closed her eyes and exhaled what could only be described as a squeak. "Another cup of tea would be wonderful, thank you."

For a moment, he considered denying it, but his conscience would not allow him to lie to his daughter outright. He poured the tea in silence.

"You must tell me the whole story, when did you fall in love with her? I am delighted to know that something as exciting as a secret romance has been going on directly under my nose, and I must know all the details of the affair immediately." 

"It is not a secret romance," he finally replied. "The professor and I simply… well, I suppose it could be said that we like one another."

"I should think that is rather an understatement, but I can tell you do not wish to be pressed on the matter," Flayn said, taking a sip of tea. "Allow me to say one final word, though, if I may."

"Nothing is more important to me than your opinion, please speak plainly."

Flayn set her cup back down delicately and clasped her hands together. "Truly, the only way I could possibly be more delighted by this occurrence, is if you were to announce an engagement."

"That is not something that you should be raising your hopes for."

"Whyever not? The pair of you seem well suited, and father–"

"Flayn, please."

" _Brother_ , you have been alone for so very long. My heart aches for you."

"There is no need for you to pity me; I am not alone any longer, not since you returned to me. Besides, as diverting as our involvement might be for Byleth, I have not yet deluded myself that she might ever wish to attach herself to an old fool like me in any meaningful way."

"Is that what you would wish for me? The way you think of me? Are we to be two ageless old fools drifting through life together, never to experience the joy of romantic love?"

"I–" Seteth paused for a moment, unsure how to proceed. "Of course I don't think of you as an old fool, and I would never tie you to me for eternity; I only wish for your safety and happiness. The complexity of our situation dictates–"

"Our situation dictates nothing. You must know I would leap at any chance of happiness, however fleeting. A new family of my own." She sighed again. "I shall not be a little girl forever."

He was more acutely aware of that fact than she could ever know. But the desire to protect her from the pain of loss was great, and a human lifespan could only ever offer her a brief chance of happiness, with the agony of losing your partner too soon an absolute certainty.

_It'd be nice to be able to protect everyone we love from the dangers that come along with being alive, wouldn't it?_

Jeralt's words rang through his mind. 

"I know that it is difficult for you, father."

"No, you are right in all you've said. You are always right, and I do not take heed of your counsel frequently enough." 

Flayn took his hand and squeezed it in a comforting gesture. "Perhaps you might consider the idea of my becoming acquainted with some of the students at the academy?"

He was powerless to protest. To do so would be beyond unreasonable when she had argued her corner so well. "I will speak with the professor tomorrow, and see if she might know of some sensible minded youths for you to socialise with."

Flayn beamed. "Truly?"

Her happiness was infectious, and Seteth could not keep the instinctual smile from appearing on his own face. "I promise."

—

The fragile nature of comfort, happiness, and security is never so savagely revealed as it is at a time when one's spirits are tentatively raised with hope and joy. 

Seteth had learned this lesson many times, but never had it struck him as so acutely cruel as it did on the morning of the following day, when Flayn failed to appear at the usual time for their morning meal in the dining hall.

Immediately, he knew that something was amiss, and he took himself to her chamber with a pounding heart to check if she was unwell, only to find her conspicuously absent.

His chest felt more and more tightly constricted as he checked any places she might usually be found–the cathedral; the walled gardens; and his own office were all devoid of her presence, and his panic grew more intense as the time ticked steadily on.

The monastery was enormous. She could be anywhere, and yet Seteth knew in his heart that she had been taken.

Taken by some dastardly villain, probably whilst he was sleeping soundly in his bed, dreaming of a soft woman and a happy family.

The cathedral bell chimed. Hours had passed. Images of Flayn's happy face repeatedly flashed through his mind. Would that be the last time he ever saw her? 

No.

He stopped himself. Thoughts like that would only bring him despair, and Flayn needed him. It was unlikely that Byleth would be back from Conand Tower yet, but he was in desperate need of assistance.

Reluctantly, he abandoned his fruitless search and rushed to find Rhea.

When he arrived at the audience chamber, Byleth was there already, and Rhea was in the process of issuing her a mission for the month beginning the next day. 

By this time, his panic was utterly overwhelming, and try as he might to keep a positive state of mind, his treacherous brain assaulted him continuously with terrible scenarios. 

"Find her, I beg you." What more could he say? What more could he hope for? 

Byleth nodded stoically and swore to deliver Flayn back to him. She was all practicality, asking him where he had already looked, and immediately recruiting the help of the students in her search.

Seteth was to remain in the audience chamber; he did not object, knowing in his heart that he would only hinder their efforts with his distress.

The time was immeasurable. There was no sleep, the little food that Rhea managed to push on him tasted like ash on his tongue.

The Lance of Ruin, so recently reacquired by the Church, taunted him with its presence. He wished to be comforted, but could not bear to seek anyone out.

Byleth came to see him once, and he noticed a softness in her brow when she looked upon him. It seemed even the Ashen Demon could not prevent herself from pitying him. How awful he must look.

She reported the progress they had made in the investigation, which had sounded both hopeful and extremely alarming. Hopeful, only in that they had made any progress at all.

He smiled for her, because he was grateful of her efforts, and moved by her sympathy, but he refused to join her for lunch.

"I'm afraid I would not be much in the way of company for you at the moment, professor. But thank you," he said.

Byleth took a step towards him and he took a step back, glancing at his desk and remembering where such a motion had landed them the week before.

"I…"

She raised a hand towards her face and gestured vaguely around her eyes. "You have–" She took another step towards him, and this time he stood still for her as she reached up and wiped away the moisture from his eyes that he had not been aware of.

The small gesture of comfort only caused the tears to flow more freely, and he turned away from her, unwilling to show her how truly broken he was.

"I'm sorry," he murmured thickly. 

"Why do you do that?"

"Why do I weep?" he replied, speaking his words to the stone of the wall.

"Are you in pain?" 

Finally, he turned to face her again, allowing his tears to fall where they would. "I am in a great deal of pain. Agony."

"Would you like me to fetch Mercedes? Since Manuela and Flayn are both missing, she would be the–"

"I do not require a healer, Byleth," he said quietly. "This pain is in my heart, because I am so desperately frightened for the life of someone I love."

Byleth nodded. "In that case, I'll find her tonight," she said solemnly. 

Solemnly, and with such utter certainty, that Seteth had to force himself not to raise his hopes too high.

—

Checking his hopes, it turned out, was an unnecessary precaution. 

Byleth delivered on her oath, and Flayn was returned to him that very night. She was weakened, but safe, and Seteth felt secure enough in her safety to leave her in the infirmary alongside Manuela and the other student, Monica, who had both also been rescued, knowing that they were in safe hands.

He found Byleth in the greenhouse, harvesting vegetables as though nothing out of the ordinary had taken place.

"Professor?"

She turned to face him with a slight upward curve of her lips–an occurrence that still did not fail to set his heart racing. 

"Is it not late in the day to be gardening?" he asked. "You must be tired."

"I think…" She moved from her squat by the raised beds to a stand, and brushed the dirt from her hands onto her coat. "I'm probably not as tired as you."

He chuckled at that, his spirits were high enough that his own exhaustion had not yet taken hold. "I came to thank you. My gratitude cannot be understated."

"I was just doing my job," she said with a shrug. "I'm relieved to see you smile again. And I'm glad that Flayn is safe. Has your pain subsided?"

He laughed. "My pain has been replaced by unfathomable relief. And overwhelming affection for you."

At that, a barely noticeable blush coloured her cheeks. "Your note… we didn't ever get to meet up."

"No."

"Do you want to…" She inclined her head towards the dormitories where her chamber was situated.

"I think perhaps not." He sighed. "I cannot help but blame myself for Flayn's abduction… not wholly, of course, but my complacency should not be ignored."

"Did you carry her to the Death Knight yourself?"

He took a step towards her and reached to wipe a smudge of dirt from her face. "You may not look like him, but you take after your father a great deal."

"My father would tell you that blaming yourself for things that you can't control is idiotic."

"Of that, I have no doubt. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that it happened at a time when I was not focused on my responsibilities. I have been reckless, and I apologise."

"You apologise too much for living your life."

She watched his face, her own set in a mask of determination, and he felt his resolve crumbling.

"You were right, I am tired," he said, taking a step back from her. "I should retire to my bed, or I will be of no use at all to Flayn… or anyone."

"Won't you kiss me goodnight?"

At this hour, the area was deserted. Seteth was weak. Beaten down by the stress of the preceding days, and fighting against an instinct almost as powerful as the desire to protect his child.

"You seek to break my resolve?" he asked. 

She said nothing. Took no steps towards him, only remaining as she was, an arms length away from him. Her face, as dear to him as it had become, betrayed no emotion. 

Seteth was a man of feeling, and he was not unaware of the effect their relationship was beginning to have on him, despite the initial boundaries they had both laid down. 

All the more reason to put an end to it now, he thought as he closed the distance between them and kissed her soundly on the mouth.

**Author's Note:**

> Anyone still reading this series, thank you for sticking with it. I hope this update is okay. I have the series planned out until the time skip, and I intend to continue it until the end of the game. I've named it "Inbetween Days" because I am glossing over a lot of important events that dont really involve Seteth, since I'm writing from his PoV, and also because I love The Cure and that song is really nice, it makes me think of dragon boi  
> The titles of all the one shots are taken from the songs that I was listening to as I wrote them, and they would probably make a cool playlist!  
> Just Like Heaven - The Cure  
> Sweet Nothing - Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welsh  
> Consequence - Incubus
> 
> I am on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/situationnorma1?s=09)  
> and [Tumblr](https://jointhebattle.tumblr.com/?s=09) come and say hi!
> 
> **edit notes to say I noticed people variously subscribing to the fics, if you want to get email updates on this story, please either subscribe to my [user page](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jointhebattle) or to the [series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623028), since you wont get them if you just sub to one of the individual fics**


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